audio review : I Admit ( song ) … R Kelly

Why R Kelly would put out a song entitled I Admit while being publicly accused of, and potentially investigated for, real-life sex crimes; a song at least partially about said allegations; is beyond me. He stops short of confessing to an actual crime; in fact he strongly implies his innocence; and a song, even a long-ass rambling one, is just a song, but it’s not a good look.

“I admit it,” the ill-advised hook goes, “I did it.” His detractors (“haters”) will isolate those words and use them as weapons, but his sentiments aren’t lost on me. This is, from the prolific R&B artist whose album titles include Love Letter and Write Me Back, an open diary entry in which the singer; a famous one on the verge of becoming infamous; laments his life struggles.

You can say he’s playing the victim, but, in some ways, he is one. A lot of celebrities are. They’re often taken advantage of for the sake of fame and fortune and Kells is no exception. I think that’s him in “the tape”. I saw it before deepfakes. I also think he’s being falsely accused by lying-ass groupies. Don’t get me started on Jim DeRogatis and the biased news media.

my rating : 3 of 5

2018

Christian Dior Denim Flow ( song ) … Kanye West + Pusha T + Ryan Leslie + Lloyd Banks + Kid Cudi ( featuring John Legend )

MP3

2010

audio review : Blame Game ( song ) … Kanye West ( featuring John Legend )

The most endearing part of this song comes near the end where a semi-funny Chris Rock engages in a dialogue with what is supposed to be Kanye West’s girlfriend. She sounds awkwardly copy-and-pasted, retarded or drugged out of her fucking mind, but it’s cute how she says what she says. Though neither voice should be panned to the left or the right because its supposed to be “Yeezy” listening from his mono phone speaker, the background piano music is as beautiful as the Dark Twisted album title suggests.

Lo-fi drums come and go, but that music, which is at times highlighted by what sounds like a violin, is looped from start to end. That’s a winning move, along with the chorus. The “for sure” part sounds out of place, but it’s a nice chorus, especially when Kanye West replaces John Legend and adds his own melodic touch. If nothing else, that part supports my point that it’s nice vocal melodies, not nice voices, that matter most when it comes to the quality of a song. As far as intimacy goes, John Legend distracts.

There should be an unknown voice as the “local dude” West’s chick cheats on him with instead of Chris Rock. It’s certainly conceivable that a pretty “bitch” who’s leeched onto the dick (heart) of one wealthy celebrity would leech onto the heart (dick) of another, but it’s not supposed to be that way. He’s supposed to be a “neighborhood nigga” who couldn’t afford to buy the watch he wanted. That artistic blunder throws the concept off a bit. Then again, Chris Rock is a professional actor, so I guess it’s okay.

my rating : 4 of 5

2010

audio review : My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy ( album ) ... Kanye West

audio review : Cruel Summer

audio review : Cruel Summer

The hooks on the first two songs are annoying. R Kelly, for one, sounds silly stretching the word “world” out to so many syllables. Neither is as bad as on a song called Higher though, which is practically unbearable. There is “GOOD” music here, but most of it is confined to the actual music. The instrumental beats, even without Kanye West at the helm, thump with artistic flair.

The raps are neither here nor there; there aren’t really any stand-out MCs in Kanye’s clique; though feature verses from Ghostface Killah and Jadakiss serve as pleasant surprises. Song highlights include Don’t Like, an updated version of the Chief Keef song, which isn’t at all appropriate as the ending to an album that represents a record label he’s not signed to, Sin City and The One.

my rating : 3 of 5

2012